The Fat of the Land eBook

When the carriage arrived at Four Oaks, the story
was told in few words, and I immediately set to work
to “mend” the boys. Jack insisted
that Jarvis should receive the first attention, and,
indeed, he looked the worse. But after washing
the blood off his face, I found that beyond a severe
bruise, which would disfigure him for a few days, his
face and head were unhurt. His arm was broken
and badly contused. After I had attended to it,
he said:—­

“Doctor, I’m as good as new; hope Jack
is no worse.”

I carefully washed the blood off Jack’s head
and neck, and found an ugly scalp wound at least three
inches long. It made me terribly anxious until
I fairly proved that the bone was uninjured. After
giving the boy the tonsure, I put six stitches into
the scalp, and he never said a word. Perhaps
the cause of this fortitude could be found in the blazing
eyes of Jessie Gordon, which fixed his as a magnet,
while her hands clasped his tightly. Miss Jessie
was as white as snow, but there was no tremor in hand
or eye. When it was all over, her voice was steady
and low as she said:—­

“Jack Williams, in the olden days men fought
for women, and they were called knights. It was
counted a noble thing to take peril in defence of
the helpless. I find no record of more knightly
deed than you have done to-day, and I know that no
knight could have done it more nobly. I want
you to wear this favor on your hand.”

She kissed his hand and left the room. Jack didn’t
seem to mind the wound in his head, but he gave great
attention to his hand.

CHAPTER XLIII

THE RESULT

As soon as the first report of the battle reached
me, I telephoned to Bill Jackson, asking him to come
at once to Four Oaks and to bring a man with him.
When he arrived, attended by his big Irishman, my men
had already put one of the farm teams to a great farm
wagon, and had filled the box nearly full of hay.
We gave Jackson a hurried account of the fight and
asked him to go at once and offer relief to the wounded,—­if
such relief were needed. Jackson was willing enough
to go, but he was greatly disappointed that he had
missed the fight; it seemed unnatural that there should
be a big fight in his neighborhood and he not in it.

“I’d give a ten-acre lot to have been
with you, lads,” said the big farmer as he started
off.

Word had been sent to Dr. High to be ready to care
for some broken heads. Two hours later I drove
to the Inn at Exeter and found the doctor just commencing
the work of repair. Thirteen men had been brought
in by the wagon, twelve of them more or less cut and
bruised about the head, and all needing some surgical
attention. The thirteenth man was stone dead.
A terrific blow on the back of the head had crushed
his skull as if it had been an egg-shell, and he must
have died instantly. After looking this poor
fellow over to make sure that there was no hope for